Tuesday, March 16, 2010

St Patrick's Day Balloon Launch

That's right, the balloon team is back at it again! This time, we are launching a balloon as part of an Education and Public Outreach (EPO) effort at LASP in conjunction with Arvada High School. The expected launch time is 9:30am MDT.

The payload has a few extra goodies this time based on the open-source Arduino microcontroller platform that should simplify data logging of GPS location, heading, pressure, and temperature. We will still be taking photos once per minute and tracking the real-time location using the SPOT satellite messenger.

I will be attempting to provide some real-time video streaming of the launch, chase, and recovery from my iPhone using a free service from USTREAM. Check out the embedded video below, or if you want to view it in a separate browser window go to this address.
Once again, check the map below for the balloon's location that will be updated every 10 minutes, or you can view the progress at the SPOT Shared Page or at the SPOT Trip Manager page.



Let's hope for the Luck o' the Irish for the ole' balloon!

1 comment:

bk said...

You should add to the payload:
(1) Oz Guiness Beer

If you are worried about freezing, consider substituting 1 Oz Jameson Irish Wiskey